Mobile elevator transporter for semi-automatic wafer transfer

ABSTRACT

A portable assembly allows semiconductor wafer boats to be transported safely from one semiconductor processing device to another semiconductor processing device at low cost using a small amount of the fabrication area without the need for complicated automated systems. The portable assembly includes two hollow bodies, of which one body may be elevated by electromechanical means to the height of a cantilever oven opening. The elevation may be conducted manually or automatically. The upper body of the assembly contains a rotating drum which further includes four segmented cylinders, which store and queue the wafer boats. The lower body contains a safety shoe locking apparatus which allows the elevator mechanism to be activated only when the assembly is docked in the appropriate location. The assembly also contains storage areas for wafers in progress. The assembly is moved manually on a set of wheels and may be rotated about its axis.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to industrial-mechanical devicesthat assists in the production of semiconductors and improve the safetyand efficiency of the semiconductor manufacturing environment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Currently, there are a variety of tools available to assist thesemiconductor processing personnel in handling of semiconductor waferboats. However, much of the risk in the semiconductor-manufacturingenvironment still includes poor ergonomic practices, which subject thehandlers to personal risk and the very expensive product tocontamination risks. One of the most inefficient and risk pronedangerous areas are the horizontal furnaces used to process the siliconwafers.

[0003] There are small tools for safe handling and transporting ofsilicon wafers, which include vacuum wands, manual wands (wafertweezers), vacuum pumps (spurious), tubing, and tweezers for varioussize wafer handling, etc. Mactronix, Amtech, TEL Tokyo Electron Ltd,Fluoro Mechanic of Tokyo, Japan, and Tystar of Torrance, Calif. areexamples of companies that manufacturer these advanced wafer handlingtools for the semiconductor industry.

[0004] However, currently there is very little automation of thehorizontal furnace process in use despite the fact that there have beengreat advances in the automation of wafer handling up to and around thefurnaces. The actual critical steps of loading and unloading wafersboats from horizontal furnaces despite two decade's worth of attempts toimprove productivity around the loading and unloading of furnaces, stillresist the applications of automation.

[0005] This lack of automation tools around the horizontal quad stackfurnace is surprising, since operators in the fabrication areas arechallenged to perform awkward, inefficient, and hazardous manual taskswhen in physical possession of expensive wafer loads.

[0006] Examples of overall automated material processing systems for thesemiconductor manufacturing environment are contained within U.S. Pat.Nos. 6,157,886 and 6,045,235, and 5,838,566 developed by Conboy, et. al.and owned by Advanced Micro Systems of Sunnyvale, Calif. It is unclearwhether such systems are commercially viable on a mass scale because ofthe expense of retooling of the fabrication area to employ such acustomized comprehensive fabrication system. Additionally, thesecomputer-controlled comprehensive method(s) for managing materialfabrication are not really relevant to the actual physical processesinvolved in the fabrication area, but more to a general method ofmanufacturing control and optimization. Another example of complexautomated material handling units is taught by U.S. Pat. No. 4,829,445,which is illustrated by FIG. 2 and invented by Burney and owned byNational Semiconductor Corporation of Santa Clara, Calif. However, thisinvention is directed at a particular device/system for materialprocessing but like the above patent, requires extensive installationand computer controls and expense.

[0007] In general, the complex automated solutions are too expensive.They are slow (reducing throughput), with an ever-present risk ofcross-contamination, difficult to install and maintain, with amaneuverable space requirement, which is much greater in practice thanclaimed by some suppliers. Such systems require high cost in time,space, and expense, in most instances actually reduce the throughput ofthe furnace, hampering productivity. Claims made by entities investingin full furnace automation on the grounds that it prevents “missprocessing” by the operator are often largely exaggerated. Hence, thesemiconductor industry has found it more effective to continue to employoperators despite the continued risks to both operator and product.

[0008]FIG. 1 represents a typical quad stack horizontal furnace 10 forprocessing semiconductor wafers. The furnace consists of four furnacetubes, with cantilevered loaders 12, 14, 16, 18 on which wafer boatscontaining typically 50 wafers must be carefully placed. Furnace 12 and14 will exist at a height of 80 and 60 inches or greater respectivelyabove the floor level. When cantilever-loading systems became popular inthe 1980's it was expected that automation of the loading and unloadingof such semiconductor processing devices would quickly follow. Despitesome very ambitious attempts by furnace manufacturers and othercompanies to automate the process, the numbers of fabricatingenvironments employing automated furnace loading are a tiny minority.Horizontal furnace automation has been unsuccessful for several reasons,mainly capital expenditure, high maintenance costs, reduced throughput,and difficulty of installation among others.

[0009] Because automation attempts have failed due to theabove-mentioned expense and convenience issues, the semiconductor waferboats are still handled manually around the furnace. The first difficultset of actions performed by a typical operator is the action ofunloading the top tube of the quad stack horizontal furnace at level 12,which is typically approximately 80″ above floor level. Typically,operators climb up and down (backwards) a set of 2 or 3 steps with somehand held fork lift device to remove a single wafer boat from thecantilever. The loading process is the reverse, climb up with load inone hand, load and climb down empty handed, backwards. In all a total of24 trips are needed to load and unload (6×2=12 boats=600 wafers) thewafer boats from a typical single tube process.

[0010] What is needed is a simple solution to bridge the gap between theexpense and complexity of full automation and reducing theresponsibility and risks to operators that is affordable and does notrequire extensive retooling of the fabrication area.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0011] The present invention addresses many of the above discussed needsby facilitating sensible, safer and ergonomically efficient loading,unloading, and transporting of silicon wafers in the manufacturingenvironment, all at a relatively small cost to the semiconductormanufacturer. The present invention represents an effective low costcontribution to the improved productivity of horizontal furnaceprocessing.

[0012] It is the object of the present invention, theElevator/Transporter (also referred to as the “E/T”™), to uniquelycombine a means by which batches of semiconductor wafers, can betransported back and forth between any of the furnaces (left hand orright hand configuration) and any of the “transfer stations” in thefabrication area, elevated to any required cantilever level and backdown to the correct height for easy loading/unloading at the transferstation, store and queue the wafers in one self contained apparatus. Thepresent invention is simple, affordable, requires the use of littlespace in the semiconductor fabrication area, and that which it doesrequire, since it is mobile, is a non issue as it can be simply rolledout of the way as necessary to provide space.

[0013] Using the present invention, wafers are staged by the operatorfrom the transfer station prior to hot processing and loaded into arotating drum feature on the invention. The device is wheeled or rotatedabout its axis, depending on the configuration of the fabrication area,over to the furnace where the operator presses the button to raise thedrum to the required, pre-set, load level. In a typical operation, usingthe optional steps, the operator climbs to tube level, with both handsfree for safety. The operator is now able to unload the cantilever ofthe processed wafers and place them into the invention.

[0014] The operator rotates the drum bringing up the next batch for thefurnace and while still in position loads the cantilever and starts thenext run. The operator can then climb down the steps with both hands nowfree and wheel the invention with processed wafers safely enclosed, tothe next workstation.

[0015] The resulting benefits of using the present invention aredescribed inithe bullet points below but briefly stated the presentinvention provides safer, quicker, more reliable furnace loading ofsemiconductor wafer boats, with a very low cost of ownership and aminimum of disruption to the fabrication area. This simple, costeffective solution offers some huge advantages. Although the presentinvention is not fully automated, it reduces both the ergonomic stresson the operator and the risk to wafers and thus improves productivity.Optional features of the invention, like automatic height elevation,also allow for the reduction of operator error.

[0016] The key features of the preferred embodiment of the invention andbenefits of the invention over the existing prior art are:

[0017] The invention replaces the manual loading of 300 wafers in 6boats and unloading of 300 in 6 boats (total 12 boats or 600 wafersmoved) requiring a total of 24 trips (12 trips up and 12 trips down).The invention can be safely pre-loaded with 6 boats, from the transferstation at floor level, in the delivery drum, wheeled to the furnace andby the elevation to cantilever level and rotation of the drum, providesthe operator positions in which to place 6 boats of wafers alreadyprocessed in the furnace. This means that while on the steps, at therequisite cantilever level the operator can unload 6 boats, rotate thedrum and load 6 boats in only 2 trips (one trip up and down) the stepsinstead of 24 trips. Such a reduction in trips and having both handsfree drastically reduces the odds of injury to the handler and damage tothe expensive product.

[0018] In a preferred embodiment, the invention will allow for thetransport of 600 wafers in 12 wafer boats.

[0019] The handler usually has only one hand free while loading andunloading the expensive wafers. The present invention allows the handlerto have both hands available after the wafer boats are loaded forclimbing and lowering to other levels.

[0020] The present invention also allows the handler to reduce theextreme ranges of motion required to load and unload wafer boats intoand out of quad stack furnace.

[0021] The present invention requires that the process tube remain openfor less time than in a manual-loading situation, which means that thereis significantly less chance of product cross-contamination. Throughputis also increased.

[0022] The present invention allows for the queuing of wafer boats andcolor-coding of the cradles into which the wafer boats are loaded forlot identification, thereby reducing the ever-present risk of missprocessing. With the present invention the next batch of wafers to beprocessed is always ready, increasing throughput.

[0023] The present invention, unlike some complex automated systemsdiscussed above, does not require the fabrication area to be retooled.The E/T™ can be implemented in the fabrication process immediately withthe exception of the “shoe” iinstallation, which stabilizes the E/T™ atthe loading station.

[0024] The footprint of the present invention is small, approximately30″×30″ and mobile. Thus, it can be multiplexed to serve numerousfurnace stacks/transfer stations in a small amount of highly valuablespace. Additionally, the invention's mobility means that it is never inthe way when the furnace equipment needs servicing, which is a majordisadvantage of fixed, hard automation.

[0025] In one of the preferred embodiments in which the height of thecantilevers is programmed into the elevator controls to assist theoperator/handler, the programming can literally be done in a couple ofminutes using the “set loading/unloading height” feature.

[0026] The invention requires very little maintenance because of itssimple design. The breakdown on an E/T™ while unlikely will only requireminutes to repair, whereas automated systems could take days or weeks torepair, at multiples of costs of the purchase of a single E/T™.

[0027] The invention has an optional feature where the boat trays arecolor coded for Lot Tracking.

[0028] The ET has “on board” storage of the Lift Tools so that they arealways available at the point of use, which further facilitates safetyand ergonomic efficiency.

[0029] The invention saves money over full automation. If fullautomation is used instead of present invention then one system perfurnace stack is required, each costing up to ten (or greater times theprice of the invention.

[0030] The invention is designed so that there is no wafer over wafermovement, which reduces the risk of wafer damage and particlecontamination.

[0031] The invention includes means for loading silicon wafer boats intoa series of circularly placed storage half cylindrical trays (hereinalso referred to a “cylindrical cradles” or “cradles”), which arecontained, on a rotating drum. The drum not only allows for easy loadingof a silicon wafer boat, onto a cantilever and into the furnace, but canbe raised and lowered to a pre-determined height pneumatically,hydraulically or electrically, to allow for easy load for any furnaceheight.

[0032] In addition to the improved ergonomics of wafer boat loading andunloading, the rotating drum allows for multiple cradles, which aredesigned for “offset” boat positioning and the correct queuing of thewafer boats. This provides the operator with a positive visual guide tothe sequenced loading/unloading of the boats meaning that they are lesslikely to misprocess the product by placing the wafer boats in the wronglocation.

[0033] An optional embodiment of the invention includes an attachmentfor steps, which may or may not include the option to have steps or anelevating platform (with or without a safety gate) built into theelevator-transporter body. A preferred embodiment of the inventionleaves the step features out so that each fabrication area using theE/T™ can use stairs that comply with local, state, and federalregulatory standards regarding the use of stairs or elevating platforms.

[0034] The invention also includes an optional feature for automatingthe wafer transfer process between furnaces with the use of theElevator/transporter, with the use of a automatic drum rotation.However, the preferred embodiment features the low cost elevatortransporter without such automatic wafer transfer/rotator. Such anautomated feature significantly drives up the costs of the invention. Itis anticipated that although some semiconductor manufacturers may desirethe inclusion of the mentioned optional features, low manufacturing costwill remain a primary selling point of the invention.

[0035] These and other advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent upon reading the following detailed descriptions and studyingthe various figures of the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0036]FIG. 1 represents a prior art semiconductor processing furnace ora quad stack horizontal furnace.

[0037]FIG. 2 represents an example of a prior art automatic waferprocessing handling invention.

[0038]FIG. 3 is a side-view of the present invention.

[0039]FIG. 4 is top rear view of the present invention.

[0040]FIG. 5 is an alternate embodiment of the present invention withthe stair feature.

[0041]FIG. 6 is a cutaway side view of the components of the presentinvention.

[0042]FIG. 7 is a detailed view of the drum of the present invention.

[0043]FIG. 8 is a detailed view of the drum with an optional feature ofan automatic rotation feature.

[0044]FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the docking system of the presentinvention.

[0045]FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of the process by which a semiconductorwafer is manufactured using the present invention.

DEFINITIONS

[0046] The following expressions are used in the specification andclaims:

[0047] “Semiconductor wafer processor” or “operator” is any employee ofa semiconductor fabrication plant who loads and unloads wafers from aprocessing device. Generally, referred to as a handler or operator inthe specification.

[0048] “Semiconductor wafer container” is any container that holds a setof semiconductor wafers for processing, such containers are commonlyreferred to in the industry as “silicon wafer boats,” or “wafer boats.”

[0049] “Semiconductor processing device” is any device in which thesemiconductor wafer is placed that is used in the manufacture of thesemiconductors, usually cantilever loaded horizontal stack furnace, butis easily applied to other semiconductor wafer manufacturing devices.

[0050] “Cradle” is interchangeable with “tray,” “tube” or “cylinder” andis used to describe a feature of the present invention, but has noparticular meaning to those skilled in the art nor should be used tolimit the scope of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0051] While the present invention has been described in terms ofseveral preferred embodiments, there are many alterations, permutations,and equivalents, which may fall within the scope of this invention. Itshould also be noted that there are many alternative ways ofimplementing the methods and apparatuses of the present invention. It istherefore intended that the following appended claims be interpreted asincluding all such alterations, permutations, and equivalents as fallwithin the true spirit and scope of the present invention.

[0052] Referring now to FIG. 3 and 4, which are side view and top viewdiagrams of the present invention, respectively, a semiconductorcontainer elevator/transporter (E/T™) 100 in a preferred embodiment isshown. The invention includes an elevator body 102, and a transporterbase 104, a rotating drum system 200, with manual rotation control 210.The E/T also has a set of wheels 116, on which it can be transported androtated about its axis. An optional feature allows for a stairsattachment to the base 130. The invention also contains an elevatormechanism 170 which is pictured in detail below.

[0053] The invention has optional clean storage containers 124 and 126,which may be used to store WIP (work-in-progress) wafer containers,while such wafer containers are waiting to be processed by thehorizontal stack furnace. In a preferred embodiment the two storagecontainers are located in the elevator body 102 and will store 300wafers (6 wafer boats) in 2 cylinder containers.

[0054] In order to reduce the costs of manufacturing the presentinvention, a set of solid or pneumatic rubber or polyurethane wheelassemblies 116 will be attached to the transportation base 104 of thedevice. Depending on the optional step features of the invention, thereare generally to be at least 3 wheels, but for safety there arepreferably four wheels. Wheels may be made of other materials thatfacilitate moving the invention about in the fabrication area with anappropriate amount of safety, cleanliness and noise.

[0055] As can be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the presentinvention does not need to use a specific type of elevator mechanism,but such a mechanism could vary depending on the cost of manufacturingand the varying needs of the consumer. The elevator mechanism may becontrolled by manual mechanical means such as a wheel/gear mechanism.However, preferred embodiments would include a pneumatic hydraulicsystem, which would take up a minimum of space and power and allow for amaximum of controllability while keeping the cost of the inventionreasonable. Another embodiment would include an electrical elevator,which could be powered by a battery stored in the center of the base,but which may require more complex wiring than would be desired in sucha cost-effective device. The elevator mechanism is described below inFIG. 6.

[0056] The present invention also includes several optional featureswhich allow for the elevation of the semiconductor wafer processor to bepre-programmed at specific heights would which would correspond to theheights at which the wafer boats are most easily loaded into and out ofthe cantilevered furnace tube loaders. Another optional feature of thepresent invention allows for attachments to nodes 130 for a set ofsteps, which may be provided on the invention or provided separately.

[0057] Referring now to FIG. 5, an alternate embodiment of the presentinvention in which the stair feature is included is shown. The optionalstair feature includes 3 folding steps 150, 152, and 154, respectively,which slide out from the transportation base 104. The base step 154 hastwo wheels attached 132 which will allow the elevator/transporter 100 torotate about its axis. Also included in the stair feature are a set ofstabilizers 155, which stabilize the stairs. Each stair 150, 152, and154, has a pair of gliders/locks 156, which guide the stairs as they arebeing pulled out or pushed in and prevent the stairs from being pulledout too far.

[0058] In an alternate embodiment, the stairs 150 will fold into thetransportation base 104 of the elevator/transporter 100, so that theelevator/transporter 100 can be transported without manually attachingor detaching the stairs from the transportation base 104.

[0059] Referring now to FIG. 6 which is a simple cutaway view of thepresent invention, includes a depiction one embodiment of the elevatormechanism 170 by which the drum is raised and lowered to the neededheight to safely put a wafer boat into an semiconductor processingdevice. The elevator system comprises two pneumatic pistons whichcomprise a drive shaft or hydraulic pole 180, a elevator motor 182, andelevator controls 184, 186, 188, and 190 respectively. FIG. 6 representsone possible manufacture of an electromechanical elevator system withwhich the present invention can raise and lower itself.

[0060] A hydraulic elevator mechanism 181, instead of aelectromechanical gear system as represented by FIG. 6 may be used in analternate embodiment. The ergonomic, manufacturing and a cost advantagesof either the manual, electromechanical and hydraulic are well known tothose skilled in the art, and do not need to be detailed here. As can beappreciated by those skilled in the art of manufacturing industrialtools, the elevator mechanism 170 can be hydraulic or electromechanicaland would depend on the needs of the consumer and the manufacturing costof each respective system. The requirements of the elevator device arenot material to the novelty of the invention and variations depend onlyon consumer preferences and manufacturing specification costs for eachrespective variation.

[0061] The elevator system 170 can be set to stop at any number ofappropriate levels such as would be represented in FIG. 1 by levels 12,14, 16 and 18 (particularly levels 16 and 18 where the height of theopening causes particular difficulty) either with an optional manual orelectrical switch or an automatic stop location that is programmed forthe appropriate level of the unloading height for the a semiconductorprocessing device. This optional feature will reduce the chance ofhandler error in manually attempting to stop the elevator device at thecorrect height and the chance of transferring wafer boats when theelevator is not at an ideal height.

[0062] Referring now to FIG. 7, a depiction of the rotating drumdelivery system 200 comprises an outer drum cover 201, a inner drumsliding semi-cylindrical cover 202, a rotation wheel 203, 2 rotatingknobs 210 and 2 corresponding rotating pins 212 attached to the rotationwheel 210 via a rotation gear and axis 215. The drum delivery systemalso includes 4 delivery cradles 220, 222, 224 and 226 for the loading,queuing, and delivery of semiconductor wafer containers. Each of thefour delivery cradles 220, 222, 224, and 226 is connected to therotation wheel by a pin and wheel assembly 221, 223, 225, and 227respectively. The entire drum delivery system can be connected to themain elevator body by hinge connectors 230. The four cradles 220, 222,224, and 226 rotate about the horizontal drum axis 215 but always remainupright.

[0063] In a preferred embodiment each of the cradles 220, 222, 224, 226have quartz glass liners 233 to support the wafer boats and preventcontamination. The semi cylindrical sliding drum cover 202 acts like aroll top desk or a bread bin and this entire assembly 202 is underneatha semi cylindrical sheet metal top cover 201 which protect the wholedrum system 200.

[0064] Referring now to FIG. 8 a diagram of a delivery cylinder system200 with the optional feature of a automatic rotation mechanism 250 isshown. The automatic rotation mechanism 250 attaches to the side of therotating drum 200 and has the advantage of rotating the silicon waferboats in a gentle and safe manner without any abrupt motions, which mayoccur during manual rotation. The automatic rotation mechanism 250 iscontrolled by rotation controls 252 and 254, and in a preferredembodiment will also be able to keep track of which cylinder of waferboats is to be loaded onto to which device so that the operator does notprocess the incorrect batch. In an optional embodiment, the controls 252and 254 are coordinated for the 4 respective cylinders and will placethe cylinder containing the correct wafer boats in a position in whichthe wafers boats are most easily loaded and unloaded from thesemiconductor processing devices.

[0065] As can be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the simplerthe automatic rotation mechanism 250, the more cost effective and easilymaintained the entire E/T™ system will be. Thus, a complicated rotationmechanism is covered by the invention, but not present in a preferredembodiment. The rotation mechanism 250 may be gear driven in that itfits on the current manual rotation knob 210, it can be belt driven orcompletely replace the manual rotation knob.

[0066] Another optional feature of the invention allows the cylindricalcradles each to be labeled manually or electronically or in a colorcoded fashion to facilitate correct delivery of the semiconductor wafercontainers to the semiconductor processing device.

[0067] Referring now to FIG. 9 another optional feature of the inventionincludes a safety docking system 300 which is comprised of a “shoe” 306for a docking module 302 and a docketing detector 304. The shoe 306 isbolted either to the floor or the base of the load station 99 and may ormay not have an optional catch 308. The shoe 306 engages a dockingmodule 302 and in a preferred embodiment one docking module 302 isfitted on each side of the base of the invention as it is rolled intoposition. The purpose of the docking module/shoe combination 300 is toeliminate any possibility that ET 100 can be tipped over when it becomestop heavy in the elevated position. The docking module 302 is fittedwith a pressure switch 304 which to prevent elevator 170 from rising ifthe shoe 306 is not docked. As can be appreciated by those skilled inthe art, the docking modules/shoe combination 300 can be implemented inseveral different ways, each of which may depend on the fabrication areaspecifications and manufacturing requirements. Such variations would notdepart from the scope of the invention.

[0068] Referring to FIG. 10, a flow diagram of a method of processing asemiconductor 1000 which includes the implementation of the presentinvention is shown with the optional docking module/shoe feature. Instep 1001, the operator carts the E/T over to a first wafer boat loadingstation and raises the elevator to the level of the first wafer boat tobe loaded. Such a station will most likely be a transfer or loadingstation. In step 1002 it is determined whether the invention is inproper position by reading whether the pressure switch 304 on thedocking station 302 has been activated by the shoe 306. In step 1003 ifthe E/T is not in place then it will make a simple beep or othernotification so that the operator can move it into proper position. Instep 1004, if the E/T is in proper position, it will raise and loweraccording to the operator's commands.

[0069] In step 1005, if this station requires the operator climb to theneeded level, the optional E/T steps will be put into place and attachedto the optional step attachment 130 in step 1006. The steps are anoptional feature of the invention and other climbing apparatus may beavailable to the operator, such as an automatic platform with a safetygate, which is part of the E/T.

[0070] In step 1007, the operator determines if the first cylinder inthe drum is in the correct position and, if it is not then in step 1008,the operator rotates the drum to the correct position for the firstwafer boat. As can be appreciated by those skilled in the art, a manualrotation device would provide the most economical design of theinvention, but other embodiments may be implemented which would requirean electrical or even computer controlled rotation of the drum in orderto minimize the possibility of operator error. In step 1010, theoperator loads the first series of wafer boats in the first cylindercontained in the drum. Generally, speaking the invention will allowthree standard wafer boats to be loaded into each cylinder. In step 1012if there are more boats to be loaded at the same height at the samesemiconductor processing device, the cylinder is checked again in step1007 to see if the loading cylinder is correctly positioned.

[0071] In step 1014 if there are more boats to be loaded at anotherheight at the same semiconductor processing device, then the inventionis raised to the proper height for loading a second series of boats instep 1020, at which point the process returns to step 1006. If there aredetermined to be WIP storage requirements in step 1022, the operatorthen can open the optional storage mechanism/containers 124, 126 in theelevator body 102 and put the wafer WIPs into storage for laterprocessing. In step 1028 the device is then transported to the nextsemiconductor processing device after the stairs are removed or foldedinto the transporter base 104.

[0072] The foregoing examples illustrate certain exemplary embodimentsof the invention from which other embodiments, variations, andmodifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Theinvention should therefore not be limited to the particular embodimentsdiscussed above, but rather is defined by the following claims.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:
 1. A device for assistingin the manufacture of a semiconductor wafer, comprised of: means forloading and storing a set of one or more semiconductor wafer containersfrom any semiconductor processing device; means for queuing said set ofone or more semiconductor wafer containers; means for transporting saiddevice; means for elevating said semiconductor wafer container to afirst specified height; means for setting first said specified height toa height at which said set of one or more semiconductor wafer containersneed to be loaded into any semiconductor processing device; and whereinall of the above means are contained within a single unit.
 2. The devicefor assisting in the manufacture of a semiconductor wafer as recited inclaim 1, wherein said first specified height is a height of an furnaceopening.
 3. The device as recited in claim 2, wherein said furnaceopening is an furnace opening for a quad stack horizontal furnace. 4.The device as recited in claim 1, wherein said means for elevating isautomatically pre-programmed to rise or fall to said first specifiedheight.
 5. The device as recited in claim 1 additionally comprised ofmeans for providing short-term storage of one or more semiconductorwafer containers in said device.
 6. The device as recited in claim 1,where said means for queuing said set of one or more semiconductorswafer containers is further comprised of: a cylindrical drum containinga set of cylindrical cradles, said cylindrical cradles for storingsemiconductor wafer containers; and means for rotating said cylindricaldrum, said rotating means being for a presentation of one of said set ofcylindrical tubes at a first given point.
 7. The device as recited inclaim 6, wherein any of said set of cylindrical cradles holds a set ofthree semiconductor wafer containers.
 8. The device as recited in claim6, wherein a vertical level of said first given point is said firstspecified height.
 9. The device for assisting in the manufacture of asemiconductor wafer as recited in claim 1, further comprised of meansfor elevating a semiconductor wafer processor to a second specifiedheight.
 10. The device as recited in claim 9, wherein said firstspecified height is within a specified distance of said second specifiedheight.
 11. The device as recited in claim 9, wherein said means forelevating is comprised of steps.
 12. The device as recited in claim 9,wherein said second specified height is a height where the semiconductorprocessor can most efficiently load and unload any of said set of one ormore semiconductor wafer containers from any semiconductor processingdevice.
 13. The device as recited in claim 9, wherein said means forelevating is a platform that is raised and lowered by non-manual means.14. The device for assisting in the manufacture of a semiconductor waferas recited in claim 1, further comprised of means for providingstability for an operator.
 15. The device as recited in claim 14, wheresaid means for providing stability is a set of vertically positionedhandles attached to said device.
 16. The device for assisting in themanufacture of a semiconductor wafer as recited in claim 1, wherein saidmeans for transporting includes wheels.
 17. The device for assisting inthe manufacture of a semiconductor wafer as recited in claim 1, whereinsaid means for transporting includes a magnetic guide system.
 18. Thedevice for assisting in the manufacture of a semiconductor wafer asrecited in claim 1, further comprised of the means for shielding saidset of one or more semiconductor wafer containers from the environment,while said device is being moved.
 19. The device as recited in claim 18,wherein said means for shielding is a semi-cylindrical sliding panel.20. The device as recited in claim 1, further comprised of means forstabilizing the device, while said device is being used to load andunload wafer boats.
 21. The device as recited in claim 20, wherein saidmeans for stabilizing the device is further comprised of a dockingstation and a shoe, wherein said docking station and said shoe lock whenproperly placed.
 22. The device as recited in claim 21, wherein saiddocking station further comprises a pressure sensor, said pressuresensor being activated when said docking station and said shoe areproperly placed, whereby said pressure sensor is a fail-safe pressuresensor.
 23. The device as recited in claim 22, wherein said means forelevating cannot be activated without said pressure sensor beingactivated.
 24. A method for processing a semiconductor wafer whichincludes the following acts: raising or lowering an elevating device sothat an opening on said elevating device is at a height of an opening ona first semiconductor processing device. loading a first semiconductorwafer container into a transporting device, said transporting devicebeing for moving said first semiconductor wafer container from saidfirst semiconductor wafer processing device to a second semiconductorwafer processing device; transporting said first semiconductor wafercontainer from said first semiconductor wafer processing device to saidsecond semiconductor wafer processing device, by moving saidtransporting device, said moving executed by moving said transportingdevice; elevating said at least one semiconductor wafer container to aheight at which said semiconductor wafer container can be loaded intosaid second semiconductor wafer processing device without need foradditional manual elevation or lowering of said at least onesemiconductor wafer container; and wherein said transporting device andsaid elevating device are contained in a single physical unit.
 25. Themethod as recited in claim 24, further comprised of the act of locking adocking station positioned on the underside of said transporting deviceto a shoe located on a surface.
 26. The method as recited in claim 25,further comprised of the act of notifying an operator when said dockingstation and said shoe are not in a proper position.
 27. The method asrecited in claim 26, further comprised of the act of refusing to performsaid raising or lower step unless said docking station and said show arenot in said proper position.
 28. The method as recited in claim 24,comprised of the additional act of queuing at least one additionalsemiconductor wafer container for processing by either said secondsemiconductor processing device or a third semiconductor processingdevice.
 29. The method as recited in claim 24, comprised of theadditional act of storing at least one additional semiconductor wafercontainer containing work-in-progress semiconductor wafers.
 30. Themethod as recited in claim 24, wherein said elevating act is conductedby a hydraulic device.
 31. The method as recited in claim 24, whereinsaid elevating act is conducted by an electromechanical device.
 32. Themethod as recited in claim 24, further comprising the act of programmingat least one specified height at which the elevating device is to beraised in order to load any semiconductor wafer container into anysemiconductor processing device.
 33. An assembly comprised of: a set oftwo semi-hollow bodies, of which a lower body fits under a top body, sothat said top body can be moved vertically along the outer shell of saidlower body; a rotating drum with a cover attached to the top of said topbody, said rotating drum containing at least one knob for rotating atleast one inner elliptical plate to which is attached a set ofcylindrical cradles, said cover providing an opening to the interior ofthe drum; and wherein attached to said lower body is a set of at leastthree wheels which allow said cart to move in a forward and a backwarddirection in addition to being easily rotated about its axis in eitherdirection.
 34. The assembly as recited in claim 33 wherein said assemblyis used in the semiconductor manufacturing process.
 35. The assembly asrecited in claim 33, wherein said top body is moved vertically by anelevator mechanism.
 36. The assembly as recited in claim 35, whereinsaid elevator mechanism is a hydraulic elevator mechanism.
 37. Theassembly as recited in claim 35, wherein said elevator mechanism is anelectric elevator mechanism, and a battery for powering said electricelevator mechanism is contain within either said top body or said lowerbody
 38. The assembly as recited in claim 33, wherein said portable cartis used in the manufacture of semiconductor wafers and said cart is usedto transfer a set of wafer boats from a first semiconductor processingdevice to a second semiconductor processing device.
 39. The assembly asrecited in claim 33, wherein said set of cylindrical cradles containsfour cylindrical cradles.
 40. The assembly as recited in claim 33,further comprised of a fastener where stairs may be manually attached tosaid lower body.
 41. The assembly as recited in claim 33, furthercomprised of a set of sliding stairs which may be folded into said lowerbody, said set of sliding stairs attached to said lower body, saidbottom sliding stair containing a wheel which facilitates said portabletransporter rotating about its axis in either direction.
 42. Theassembly as recited in claim 33, further comprised of a device whichstops the elevator when said drum is at a pre-set height.
 43. Theassembly as recited in claim 33, wherein said cradles are lined withquartz.
 44. The assembly as recited in claim 33, wherein said cover is asliding semi-cylindrical panel.
 45. The assembly as recited in claim 33,wherein the minimum and maximum arc of said opening is adjustable to anarc between 30 and 180 degrees inclusive.
 46. The assembly as recited inclaim 33, wherein said set of cylindrical cradles are color-coded. 47.The assembly as recited in claim 33, further comprised of a dockingstation located on the underside of said lower body.
 48. The assembly asrecited in claim 47, wherein said docking station is further comprisedof a pressure sensor, said pressure sensor for determining when saiddocking station is properly positioned.
 49. The assemble as recited inclaims 48, wherein said top body is moved vertically by an elevatormechanism, and further comprised of a device with deactivates saidelevator mechanism when said pressure sensor indicates that said dockingstation is not properly positioned.